Western Folklife Center

A regional nonprofit organization based in Elko, Nevada, the Western Folklife Center works to expand our understanding of ourselves and our neighbors by celebrating the everyday traditions of people who live and work in the American West.

The Folklife Center strives to create deep and lasting experiences, to challenge the intellect and engage the emotions, to encourage a sense of belonging for those at home in the West, physically or spiritually, and to ensure that rural communities throughout the region realize and appreciate their own cultural bounty.

Since it was founded in 1980, the Western Folklife Center has helped raise public awareness of and support for the traditional, expressive culture of the American West. Though it is best known for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Folklife Center provides exhibitions, performances, and a full array of workshops and youth education programs at its cultural center in Elko and in communities across the West. The Folklife Center also regularly produces national programming for public radio and television, and creates CDs and DVDs based on original fieldwork. In 2006, we introduced our podcast, Ranch Rhymes: Cowboy Poetry and Music from the Western Folklife Center. And in 2008, we established our nonprofit YouTube channel to further expand our cybercast and Deep West video audiences.

The Western Folklife Center is governed by a Board of Trustees, along with a National Advisory Council made up of leaders in western cultural life. A full- and part-time staff of 13 work at the Elko headquarters and three employees work in outlying states. A cadre of members and stakeholders located throughout the United States and several foreign countries support the Folklife Center. Hundreds of volunteers assist in staging events, fundraising, and supporting the mission of the Folklife Center. Operating support comes from a combination of earned income, contributed income and public sources. Memberslocated throughout the United States and several foreign countries support the Folklife Center. Additional funding comes from local businesses, individuals, foundations, and government organizations.

The Western Folklife Center is dedicated to exploring, presenting and preserving the diverse and dynamic cultural heritage of the American West.

We celebrate the wisdom, artistry and ingenuity of western folkways through exhibitions, educational programs, national radio and television programs, research and preservation projects, our website, and our premier event, The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. We nurture connections among rural and ranching cultures globally, exploring universal themes in working traditions and artistic expression, which we believe are vital links to the past, present and future of the American West.